Peterborough 2024: 12 stories for 12 months

A steak-stealing cat, a football fan stuck in a turnstile, and the country's youngest MP - there has been a lot to talk about in Peterborough over the past year.

It has been a year that has seen financial pressures grow at Peterborough City Council and heavy rain cause flooding on the River Nene.

But there has also been plenty to raise a smile or stir the emotions as these 12 stories from the year show.

A former paramedic who spent more than 40 years photographing the same people decades apart in their city had a major exhibition featuring his artwork.

Chris Porsz spent decades capturing photographs of people in Peterborough and restaged the images, sometimes 30-40 years later, once he had tracked down the subjects again.

A cat owner apologised and offered to replace a stolen dinner after his "naughty" pet came home with a full rump steak.

Nathan Fletcher, of Stanground, Peterborough, said Smudge - and his dog Charlie - together wasted no time polishing off the stolen treat.

A primary school was criticised by parents after children observing Ramadan were asked to spend their lunch breaks at home.

The Beeches Primary School in Peterborough said about 30 Muslim children in Year 5 and Year 6 were observing the fasts, during which they refrain from eating between dawn and dusk.

Soon after the school said that after listening to parents' concerns they had made a U-turn on the policy.

A football fan said his dad had "taken it well" after he went viral for getting stuck in a Wembley Stadium turnstile at the EFL Trophy final.

While waiting to scan their tickets, the queues had started to bottle neck, his dad Paul became frustrated and when they reached the front of the queue, he caused further delays by getting stuck.

Young adults making a new podcast to get their voices heard described it as a "fantastic" experience.

They are from The Helping Hands Group, based in Peterborough, which aims to "help change the lives of people with learning disabilities".

More than 200 swimmers enjoyed an impressive summer solstice sunrise from an "oasis in the middle of Peterborough".

The city's outdoor lido, on Bishop's Road, offered early risers the chance to take in a beautiful orange and pink sky while doing lengths of the 50m (164ft) pool.

A 22-year-old elected as an MP with a razor-thin majority said he did not want his age to be the focus as he headed to Westminster.

Labour's Sam Carling was named the "baby of the House" after narrowly winning the North West Cambridgeshire seat, which covers a large part of Peterborough.

It can feel like most summer outdoor activities are plagued by wasps... but they appeared to lack their usual numbers in 2024.

Buglife, a Peterborough-based insect conservation charity, said it was not just the East of England that had seen a fall in wasp numbers but the whole of the UK.

An exhibition of 3,000-year-old artefacts discovered at a site dubbed "Britain's Pompeii" proved so popular with visitors it extended its run by a fortnight.

The finds had been on display at their new permanent home at Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery since April.

Solar panels and a "plane to reach house roofs" were among the suggestions put forward by children asked to design the fire engines of the future.

More than 60 young people took part in a competition to mark the 50th anniversary of Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue.

A man who moved into an apartment block said leaseholders' insurance charges had risen by about £79,000 in six years.

Semi-retired Michael Ferguson moved into his Spring View home in Peterborough in 2016.

Since he moved in, leaseholders said insurance costs increased from about £14,000 annually, six years ago, to £93,000 last year.

Muslim teenagers at an all-girls school who won a national football championship said they felt empowered to play in their hijabs and likened it to superheroes wearing capes.

Peterborough's Iqra Academy, an independent Islamic school, won the Muslim Schools National U15 Girls Football Championship on 3 December, which is sponsored by the English Schools Football Association.

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